Modifying a WTF RG into a Shadow Guard

[OtterKohl]

Hey y'all!

Long-time listener, first-time caller. I recently picked up a royal guard/shadow guard helmet kit from Walt's Trooper Factory, and I couldn't be more excited to get started on it.

It's a regular royal guard helmet, and though I know it's perfectly usable for a TFU Shadow Guard, I'd like to adjust it to be a bit more game-accurate.

My questions are: how can I trim the current helmet to better match the game version? Has anyone done something similar before? Is it as easy as just trimming more material, or are there some other considerations?

Here's a quick pic of how it currently looks, along with the 501st CRL image to show what I'm aiming for.

[ugcspawn]

I'd be curious if walter has an helmet for RG AND a Shadow, or if it's all the same one. If it's just the V portion that is supposed to be sharper, you can trim it off i guess. I'm currently doing a shadow with wtf's complete kit, and i didn't do any ''mods'' to the helmet.

[OtterKohl]

Hmm, weird. I specifically asked him if he had a Shadow helmet and expressed my concerns about the sharper v, and he was pretty adamant that it's just the one. Would you mind posting a picture of your helmet?

[ugcspawn]

check my work in progess in the TFU Shadow Guard section, there is some pics. My kit was black abs compared to your white, but shape-wise, they look the same. Also, if you look at the complete costume in the CRL vs the pic of the helmet, you can see that the helmet is wider compared to the photoshop of the helmet pic alone.I think it was done because the helmet rests on the shoulder bells, and they didn't want them in the helmet pic. I was always curious if there were physical difference in the shape of the helmets depending if it's a rotj, rots or aotc. I think it's more of a color thing (visor and helmet itself). I have a Rubies for my ROTJ kit, and from what I've read here, they are also approvable for the other 2 versions. I think it's the Carnor Jax/Kir Kanos helmets that require a more pronounced V shaped. But then again, i'm not a costume specialist

[OtterKohl]

Oh shoot, I've been following your progress for a while now--you're my inspiration for a lot of this! Your helmet looks great.

I actually wanted to ask why/where you added the Bondo on the helmet, as Walt said that I shouldn't do that.

(I also just bought the same little lightsaber that you did to work on the pike, based on your posts!)

[ugcspawn]

Walter is going to scold me for using bondo, i know Permatex/plastic weld is a b****** to use. Correction, to do the finishing touch with it. It's difficult to sand and to do the detailing with this stuff. I used the plastic weld to do the structural bonding then rasp it down as much as I could, then bondo for the finishing portions that I needed to sand down with fine sanding paper. I think the reason is that bondo is not flexible, so if a part move under stress, a bondo flake could result. I'm not worried for my helmet. But for my bracers, I only used plastic weld for the joining and the finishing of those joints, and only some bondo to fill out the tiny dimbles on the surface due to the vacuum process.

And feel free to ask questions on my build thread. That way, it will keep your own topic clean of diversion, and eventually, a proper person will answer you